New Champion Crowned, 2022

Fellow Managers, 

Today we crown a new league champion. CONGRATULATIONS to Nick, manager of Alternative Bats, for winning Baldelli’s Modern Life XII!  

The playoffs in ’22 were a reversal of ’21. Last year, underdogs eliminated three out of four top seeds in the first round. Alternative Bats was there, squeaking into the 8th spot. A Cinderella run ending with a loss in the championship game to Life of Ke’Bryan — a loss he swore to avenge. 

There would be no underestimating Alternative Bats this year. Nick won his division and ended the season tied for second with an overall record of 112-86-12, or .562 winning percentage. Still, to win THIS championship, Nick had to overcome a monster. For the second year, It’s Milk Time owned the best record in baseball, and it seemed no one could stop him — until one man did. 

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Ruling on Jacob DeGrom

You may have read the news that All-Star pitcher Jacob DeGrom was added to the injured list with a “stress reaction in his right scapula” today. While he will not likely miss the entire season, he will miss “significant playing time” meaning several months. 

DeGrom was a keeper for the manager Phil is my Friend, who upon hearing of the injury, asked The Commissioner’s Office for relief. 

After requesting and receiving input from multiple managers, speaking to the affected manager, and considering the current rules, I have come to the following decision: Manager Phil is my Friend may drop Jacob DeGrom as a keeper but may not replace him with another keeper. Manager Phil is my Friend does not have to pay DeGrom’s draft price. 

The ruling has created a new precedent in case something similar happens in the future.

Draft Day and Rules for 2022 Set

Hello Managers, 

Draft day is set for April 3rd at 11 am PST, 2 pm EST. Here’s the zoom link for those who can join us live (calendar invite coming soon). I’ll pick the draft order at some point this week. Get your dues to me — If you can’t afford the dues at the moment, please email me privately this week for a no-questions-asked extension. You’ll still be able to live draft. 

New rules locked in — Playoffs will remain at one week. Add/drop are now same-day. There will be no more rule changes before the season starts, the website rules page is updated, and I think I have all the rule settings in Yahoo! set correctly but I need to double-check. Draft details are not yet set in Yahoo!

Welcome to Baldelli’s Modern Life XII

Fellow Managers, 

The MLB lockout is over, and Baldelli’s Modern XII Life is BACK! — Not war, nor pandemic, nor college graduation can stop us. Commissioner Manfred read our letter and capitulated, establishing a complete 162 game season with opening day set for the first week in April.  

League dues are $200 (no inflation here!) due ASAP.
Important Dates

  • Division Picks: Sunday, March 20th between It’s Milk Time and CoMeesh.
  • Keeper Deadline: Monday, March 28th
  • Draft Day: (proposed), Sunday, April 3rd *preferred. Alternate Wednesday, April 6th. 
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Not Reporting for Duty – Pitchers and Catchers

Fellow Managers, 

The Commissioner’s Office of Baldelli’s Modern Life is actively monitoring the lockout situation between owners and players in Major League Baseball — in fact, we’re considering writing a letter urging them to come to their senses. America needs perfect games, booyas, hotdogs, and brewskis, and BML needs one dang uninterrupted season. Is that too much to ask?

Until we know the outcome of MLB’s collective bargaining agreement, this office can’t in good conscious collect league dues. If Commissioner Manfred shortens the season beyond April, we will likely cut down league dues. I want to avoid having another exhibition season, and we will unless the 2022 season is shortened considerably (think All-Star break).  

For now, please read about the proposed rule changes that I have in mind for 2022 on the league rules roadmap. Feel free to discuss in this thread. 

2021 Congratulations to Our Winner! A Season Comes to an End

Hello Managers, 


It’s my honor to announce the winner of Baldelli’s Modern Life XI, managers Doc, and Dave from the team, Life of Ke’Bryan! Congratulations to the champions! 

And congratulations to Alternative Bats for a historic Cinderella run to the finals from 8th place, beating out the strongest regular-season team in BML history to make the finals.  

In April it seemed that this championship moment for Ke’Bryan was destiny, but the road to glory was arduous and far from a sure thing. In April, Ke’Bryan had the most draft dollars, unbelievable keepers, and found themselves in the weaker regular-season division. However, injury after injury, unlucky trades, and poorly performing star players (I’m looking at you Cody Bellinger) dropped Ke’Bryan from an early division lead down to 7th place. Even late in the season, the playoffs were not a guarantee. Ke’Bryan lost their last two weeks in the regular season (four out of their last six matchups), making the playoffs by just a couple of games. 

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Precedents Page

Like calling balls and strikes, some league rules have grey areas or unique details that parties involved can interpret differently. For that reason, I’ve built a precedents page on our website. 

Precedents are not rules, nor do they bind future rulings. They are guidelines established by past Commissioner decisions that inform future rulings. To ensure that rules are applied consistently across seasons, it is essential to create a list of precedents that the Commissioner can review and reference when making decisions.

I invite all managers to review this new dimension to the league rules.